5 Smart Hacks for Laundry Management for Large Families

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As your family grows, laundry becomes a daunting task. With many kids, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of clothes and times you have to clean. Families with young kids are affected the most. Fortunately, here are a few hacks to make your laundry duties easier.

1. Make Use of Stain Remover

Your kids may play in all manner of games and stain clothes with all kinds of dirt. They could play dangerous games and get minor injuries that stain their clothes with blood. In such a scenario, you will need to use stain removers to remove blood stains. Other cases involve the nature of your job or that of your partner.

If you have already sorted your laundry, you can spray stain removers then throw them into the wash. You can also use your preferred laundry detergents.

In large families, it is common to find stains in the family car from food or children drawing the seats. If you have a large family, it’s possible you are a victim and wondering how to clean car seats. Such cases need stain removers.

2. Create a Laundry Dot System

Sometimes you may find yourself struggling to know which clothes belong to whom. In large families where kids have a not-so-big age difference, the clothes tend to be of almost the same size. In such a case, you may find yourself not knowing which cloth belongs to which kid. Here the hack is to create a dot system.

The system involves assigning a dot for each kid. Label all clothes to represent all children from the eldest to the youngest, using a permanent marker or a fabric marker. For example, put a single dot for the firstborn, two for the second, and three for the third. Remember to inform everyone about the dot system, and it works to help them sort the clothes.

3. Create a Basket System

One of the best ways to get your laundry in order and save your sanity is to create a basket system. Putting clothes away after drying them will not only confuse you, but you may not account for some clothes such as socks. Create a system where everyone has his or her laundry basket well labeled with names and cloth size.

The system will allow you to involve your kids in creating an order which can become part of their chores. Once the clothes are dry, the kids can help in putting them in the appropriate basket and getting them in their rooms.

4. Sort the Laundry

Always take time to sort everyone’s laundry – towels, uniforms, and clothes before cleaning. Sorting laundry will not only make everything simpler but will prevent damages and keep you from buying new ones. You can even sort them throughout the week instead of sorting them all at once. There are various ways to sort clothes which include:

• Sort by Texture. For you want clothes to last for long and get as clean as possible, you need to sort them by texture, not by color.
• Heavy Clothes. This category includes heavy clothes such as a sweatshirt, denim, fleece pajamas, and thick pants.
• Delicate Clothes. To avoid damaging your family’s clothes, separate them and wash them separately. This category includes items that don’t need a thorough washing, such as swimsuits.
• White Clothes. This category is the only one that involves color. Keep white clothes away from colored clothes.

Regardless of how you choose to sort them, ensure you don’t wash all manner of clothes together. Through sorting, you can even know whose clothes are missing.

5. Leave Notes on Your Washing Machine

Sometimes someone in your family may not know the hacks you use when handling laundry. The person may end up doing your laundry the wrong way and probably mixing all the clothes, which may lead to damage. For this reason, leave notes to your family on the washing machine. Family members with different home chores will depend on them as a reminder to do laundry and do it in a certain way.

For example, you may instruct when to load a heavy sweater in the washer or when to switch leads. Remember to use either an erasable marker or sticky notes.

Conclusion

Laundry can be stressful. Just remember that you are not alone. Hopefully, the ideas above have given you a renewed motivation to tackle your family’s laundry. Although they are few, you will learn other hacks along the way in your parenting journey.